1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chocolates wherein the fat component comprises a diglyceride that has a melting point of 25.degree. C. or less.
2. Description of Related Art
Chocolates are typically comprised of cacao mass and/or cacao powder, cacao fat, and sweeteners. Cacao mass, cacao powder, and cacao fat are produced from cacao beans. The beans are roasted and pulverized in order to obtain cacao mass. The cacao mass is then pressed in order to separate cacao powder and cacao fat; the fat being 100% oil.
However, there have been produced various chocolates containing other fats as a substitute for the cacao fat. By using these other fats, the properties of the chocolate can be modified. Thus a proper product is selected from among these chocolates depending upon its intended use. From the viewpoint of usage, chocolates may be roughly classified into those which are hard at ordinary temperature, i.e. solid chocolates, and those which are soft at ordinary temperature, i.e. enrober chocolates.
There have been proposals to control the appearance and rheological properties of chocolates by blending a liquid oil, such as sesame oil or cotton seed oil (cf. "Chokoreto/Kokoa Seizo no Riron to Jissai", p. 250, Korin Shoin). Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 86167/1976 discloses producing a soft chocolate by blending plastic fats. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 15495/1981 teaches improving the physico-chemical properties by controlling the blending balance of fats similar to cacao. In general, rheological properties appropriate for each chocolate product are achieved by controlling the amount of cacao fat, fats similar thereto, liquid oils, milk fat and/or plastic fats contained in the chocolate.
However no chocolate product has been developed thus far that melts easily in ones mouth, exhibits excellent cacao flavor, maintains a soft texture (softness in the mouth) below room temperature, and exhibits stable qualities (blooming resistance, oil-off resistance, etc.) above room temperature.